Insatiable Demand For Ethernet Bandwidth

Not so long ago, 10 Gbps was considered an enormous amount of bandwidth. So enormous that it only made sense for carrier backbone networks. Not anymore. Now enterprises are gobbling up that much WAN bandwidth and looking for more.

Who could possibly require 10 Gbps, short of an Internet service provider or MPLS network operator? Financial services, streaming entertainment media and medical campus connectivity are three applications on the cutting edge of high bandwidth demand, as reported in Carrier Ethernet News. How much more would they like? Some are licking their chops at 40 Gbps and even 100 Gbps.

How can a carrier keep up? Make no mistake about it, competitive service providers are in a scramble to make sure they have enough capacity to supply this burgeoning demand for higher and higher bandwidths. The once impressive T1 line is now considered a small business service. DS3 still hangs on for medium size business applications. OCx SONET, recently the darling of large enterprises, is starting to see its flame flicker on the way out. What’s happening is more than a simple escalation of bandwidth requirements. It’s a wholesale move from legacy telecom services to Ethernet connectivity.

Why Ethernet? There are a couple of strong forces at work nudging WAN bandwidth suppliers in the direction of offering Ethernet rather than some other type of connection. The first is a realization that analog telephony, the impetus behind the buildout of the massive PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), is now the smallest piece of the bandwidth pie. It’s the PSTN standards of T-Carrier & SONET that created the digital WAN services that have been pressed into service for data packet transport. The big piece of the pie is digital data and biggest piece of that pie is video.

No only are data packets the predominant information that needs to be moved from one place to another, but the networks generating those data packets are nearly all based on Ethernet. Why switch to something else just to get from one Ethernet network to another?

That’s what many carriers have concluded. Their new state of the art national and international networks are all designed to transport Ethernet packets. Those packets may represent voice from enterprise VoIP telephone systems, video conferencing or video streaming, medical images, or data file transfers. Interfacing and management of Ethernet bandwidth is more compatible with local area networks running Ethernet, but that’s not all. In most cases, Ethernet bandwidth is cheaper on a Mbps or Gbps basis than any other service.

How much cheaper? That depends on what facilities are available in your location more than anything. If you have competitive Ethernet services available, it’s not uncommon to get twice the bandwidth for the same money or keep the bandwidth you have now and get a big cost savings.

Can you ignore the Ethernet revolution? Only at the peril of your budget! It’s quick and easy to see what Ethernet bandwidth services are available for your business location. Why not take just a minute and put in a request for services and pricing now?

Merchant Account Credit Card Processing Made Easy

Credit card payment processing is essential to even the smallest businesses doing retail sales. You can make this easy or hard, so why not make it as painless as possible with support from one of the best credit card processing companies. Elite Processing Systems makes the complexity of electronic payments invisible, so you can focus on providing the goods and services that your customers want. They also go beyond the traditional credit card processing service to provide a complete suite of financial services for small businesses.

Somewhere along the line you may have heard of EPS or Elite Processing Systems. They’ve been in the business of providing merchants the capability of accepting credit, debit and EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) forms of payment for almost a decade. If you want to be able to accept credit card payments, your system needs to meet electronic security standards set by PCI or the Payment Card Industry. There’s really no need for you to become an expert in this field. EPS has already taken the necessary steps to ensure that all of their merchants are PCI Complaint. They’ll provide you with the right supplies, point of sale terminal equipment and support to ensure your success from the very start. You’ll have access to 24 hour U.S. based support, including technical support, at all times.

You know that not all of your customers have or want credit cards, even at this late date. Their comfort zone is writing checks to manage their money. That can present a serious risk to merchants who don’t have the ability to verify that the funds are really available. Elite Processing Systems works with Telecheck to let you accept checks and immediately verify funds electronically. Save yourself the anxiety of having to take those checks to the bank and wait for them to clear, only to find that there is a problem. Know immediately if that check is good or not.

Most credit card processing companies limit their services to point of sale payment solutions. Elite Processing Systems goes beyond that to support your business operations in other ways. For instance, they also offer a cost effect payroll processing system that keeps your payroll information confidential. Additional services include life insurance, health insurance, disability and simple IRA plans.

Elite also has a service available for cash advance funding. You know how tough it is to get a bank loan these days. Elite Processing Systems can set you up with Merchant Money, Ltd. cash advances based on your credit card processing future receivables. You get cash up front. Funds are taken back through your credit card sales in your merchant processing account. That helps you meet payroll, purchase inventory, pay taxes and fund your marketing campaigns without having to worry what mood the bankers are in this month.

Credit Card Processing by Elite Processing Systems a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Walnut Creek CA.